Stefan Constantinou Task 2

Limitations of television ident

TypographyThe ident has to use graphics and text to communicate a much deeper meaning in a simplistic manor. This is a limitation because the designers have to display who the company is aiming their channel toward and maintaining the audience through imagery. The ident can only be displayed on screen for less than 20 seconds, which makes it challenging for the company to show the ident how they wish. Translating graphics and text to the television screen is also difficult. Not all fonts will be displayed correctly causing typography to appear broken up or pixilated.

ColourColours are used to identify a company’s ident or channel through the colour being unique. It is very important to ensure that the logo is visible for the colour blind or impaired sighted. This is also an issue for particular colours which when displayed onto television appear discoloured. For example, bright reds are prone to noise so should be evaded in the design. Designers will have to test idents and make appropriate changes, which may change the whole design on the ident.

Aspect Ratio The screen aspect ratio has an effect on the overall design, as the designer will be producing the ident for a specific shape. This restricts the design itself as the typical aspect ratio of 4:3, creates a rectangular shape meaning that the design will also have to be rectangular and landscape. The aspect ratio can also be effective through idents in a different way. Although they are usually designed for a 4:3 ratio, not everyone will be viewing television in this format. For example, there will be people watching television on their computers or on a wide screen or HD television, which will use a 16:9 ratio. This means that the design will translate differently onto these forms stretching the ident outwards or squashing it inwards and altering the look of the design. Also, this means that the ident may not actually be able to be shown in some cases.

Adhering to a desired toneThe ident for each individual channel has to correspond with the channel’s genre or style. For example, BBC Two has a formal ident for the shows it provides such as documentaries. However, BBC Three has a comical animated ident to reflect on its humorous shows such as Family Guy or American Dad. The right tone has to be set for the different target audiences. It’s an important goal because the tone has to be suitable for the intended audience. For example, BBC Three’s ident gives a bright and lively tone showing that it’s more targeted to teenagers. It uses a mixture of bright lights, purple and bluish vibrant colours, fast and exciting music, movement, done with animated scenery and characters. The tone is created from the artistic taste of the ident such as: the movement, colour, sound, etc.

DurationThe time length of the idents for BBC News is different, some being as short as 5 seconds and others as long as 25 seconds but all still manage to express the same look and feel of the channel. The adverts also tend to be longer when the channel is introducing shows that will be on later on that day or week.

Stefan Constantinou Task 2

Positive Limitations

DurationLength of advert introducing shows later on the same day, this is beneficial as it gives the audience an insight to the shows they are going to show and it prolongs the visuals of the ident.

TypographyThere are many positive aspects to typography such as the cross-platform compatibility, variety of characters in a single font file and unique typographical features. As mentioned before typography is extremely important to clearly state information, to communicate amongst one another or to create an attraction to the viewers.

ColourAlthough there are colours that have been allocated to channels, for example, a distinctive pink is used for BBC Three so it is unusable by any other channel, the remaining colours to choose from for your ident is still a massive selection.

SizeHaving limited space to display your ident on a screen is a debatable limitation. However, using the space and size to your advantage, you can create an ident displayed for a short amount of time and position everything so it is visible and clear to the audience. For example, a channel may place the ident, the channels on next and a interesting activity in the background in one ident and this will all be sizably fit to be on TV.